Parma awarded the title of Italian capital of culture 2018

Not only Parma is famous for its ham and parmigiano cheese
and its valuable historical heritage, but also for its ability to plan cultural
activities which is the reason for it being awarded the title of Italian
capital of culture 2020.

The jury defined Parma "a virtuous and extremely
high-quality example of local culturally based planning". Parma beat off competition from fellow finalists
Agrigento, Bitonto, Casale Monferrato, Macerata, Merano, Nuoro, Piacenza,
Reggio Emilia and Treviso. After Mantua 2016, Pistoia 2017, Palermo 2018
and Matera in 2019 (at the European level), Parma will thus be showcasing
Italian culture and its uniqueness in 2020. This choice balances out the more
recent choices in the south – Palermo 2018, and European Capital of Culture
2019 Matera. This is the second great success for Parma after it was named
UNESCO Creative City for Gastronomy in 2015, becoming the first Italian city to
be awarded this title.

Parma has always had the allure of an international, cultured,
cosmopolitan city. It was at the centre of several wars in the Italian
peninsula during the 14th and 15th centuries and the French held the city for
many years in the early sixteenth century. It then became part of the Papal
States, only to be detached from them in 1545 by the Farnese pope Paul III, who
gave it and Piacenza to his illegitimate son, whose descendants ruled it for
almost two hundred years.

During the Napoleonic Wars in the early 19th century, Parma
was annexed to France. Prior to and during World War II it was a centre of
partisan resistance against fascism.

Parma is home to one of the oldest universities in the
world. Arturo Toscanini, one of the most acclaimed musicians of the late 19th
and of the 20th century, was born there, and a museum has been erected in his
honour. The composer Giuseppe Verdi was also closely linked to the city.

Among the activities scheduled for Parma’s mandate as
cultural capital there is the opening to the public of the Old Hospital in
Oltretorrente, the enhancement of the Study Centre and archive of the
University of Parma, the creation of "La città delle muse" which will
bring music and art to the suburbs with the contribution of the "Arrigo
Boito" Conservatory. The productions will have as centre the Teatro Regio,
that besides a special edition of the Verdi Festival, will have a special
season all dedicated to the twentieth century, with the help of the Fondazione
Toscanini and Fondazione Teatro Due. There are also four open calls on the
agenda in which Italian and international artists will be invited to describe Parma
from their unprecedented point of view.